Syracuse Athletics announced a key initiative on Tuesday morning focused on the name, image and likeness ("NIL") space.
SU Football NIL, a third-party NIL organization focused on Syracuse football players, has rebranded as One Orange Alliance and will serve as a third-party marketing agency supporting all 20 varsity sports at the 'Cuse.
In partnership with One Orange Alliance, we have announced a significant and innovative initiative to advance our NIL strategy, expanding opportunities for student-athletes across every Orange program. https://t.co/r24PV4V3eF
— Syracuse Athletics (@Cuse) April 21, 2026
This is an important development and one that I had anticipated for a while. Orange United had launched in September of 2023 to facilitate NIL deals for 'Cuse athletes in every sport, but that organization closed up shop last fall.
One Orange Alliance: A new approach to navigating the modern NIL landscape 🍊📈https://t.co/ii8yWhNlkt pic.twitter.com/O8Jsu2H6IV
— One Orange Alliance (@SU_Football_NIL) April 21, 2026
Since that time, it's been unclear what Syracuse's third-party NIL strategy for sports beyond football has been. Tuesday's announcement, hopefully, provides clarity and also gives SU fans a place to donate to regarding third-party NIL deals for Orange players. Here is a link to the SU Football NIL Web site and also more information about One Orange Alliance on cuse.com.
From the Syracuse Athletics press release: "Today's announcement represents the first step in building a comprehensive, long-term NIL and commercial strategy that will continue to evolve in the months and years ahead. One Orange Alliance, formerly SU Football NIL, connects corporate partners with Syracuse student-athletes to develop and execute a wide range of NIL-driven marketing, branding, and business initiatives intended to create mutual value."
Syracuse now has an NIL entity in place serving all Orange sports.
I had heard rumblings for a bit that perhaps SU Football NIL might extend beyond its initial focus on football, and this is a logical, smart strategy pertaining to Syracuse's third-party NIL efforts.
In the 2025-26 sports season, due to the multi-billion-dollar House antitrust settlement that was approved last summer, schools could start paying their athletes directly in the form of revenue-sharing.
Yet SU officials, most notably retiring athletics director John Wildhack, have stressed the importance of third-party NIL deals to supplement rev-share. Experts have told me that for Syracuse to thrive over the long term amid all the financial considerations in college sports these days, the Orange needed to get another third-party NIL organization in place to provide support to all SU sports.
This is especially vital given all the recent happenings on the Hill. Dating back to last month, Syracuse has a new chancellor, a new incoming athletics director in Bryan Blair and a new men's basketball head coach in Gerry McNamara.
In men's hoops, the transfer portal opened on April 7 and runs through Tuesday, April 21. McNamara and his staff are constructing their 2026-27 roster, and a hot-button topic among fans on social media and in chat rooms is what Syracuse basketball's budget might be for this roster.
Colby Clark, the CEO of Feldmeier Equipment in Syracuse, will serve as the president of One Orange Alliance, according to Tuesday's media statement.
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